Watching 50% of Humanity Go Online Over a Single Day is ... Mesmerizing
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Apr 14, 2019 - We present and analyse visualisations from the Monash University IP Observatory of internet connectivity through a single pseudo-24 hour day ...
And it turns out that everyone, everywhere, eventually switches off and goes to bed.
Well, almost.
Well, almost.
I guess classical astronomers did the same thing every once in a while. For them, the task was actually pretty trivial, but no less awe inspiring. Just the simple act of lifting their eye from the view-finder, descending the ladder, and stepping out into the cool air of the mountain top was all it took for them to see their beloved stars in universe mode. What a job.
Today, at the IP Observatory, we had one of those days. And we couldn’t help but share.
In this piece, we present visualisations that cycle through a single pseudo-24 hour day created by collapsing our entire set of global observations during March 2019 into average readings for each hour of the day at over 10,000 sub-national regional locations world-wide.
In all, that comes to making sense of over 1.3 billion observations.
. . . What’s sort of mesmerizing is the way that you can see the diurnal cycle of night and day sweep over the face of the map.
To be clear, this isn’t us overlaying the day/night cycle on the map, the periodic rise and fall of colours is generated directly from the variations of internet connectivity in our measurements
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GO TO THIS LINK TO SEE THE VISUALIZATIONS >
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This is so much more 5 days ago from https://www.pewresearch.org
28 Oct 2019
1. Themes about the next 50 years of life online
"When the 530 participants in this study shared wide-ranging insights about the future, most of their responses were tied to hopes and concerns over human evolution in light of technological change.
A share of their comments referred to technological advances such as
- brain-computer interfaces
- virtual immersive experiences that will teach and entertain users
- pervasive connectivity linked to artificial intelligence (AI) that helps people navigate the world and understand it better and predictive
- personalized applications that make life easier and more enjoyable.
A few predicted space-based interactions.
The respondents pushed for an array of reforms in laws, international treaties, technology systems and educational processes to try to lessen the known harms that digital technologies already create.
The next sections of this report briefly describe the most common themes from respondents and include remarks by Internet Hall of Fame members and other internet pioneers.
After that, several additional chapters cover the broad theses of hundreds of other responses, bunched into broad categories.
Some answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Creating a fair and equitable digital future
Theme 1: Humanity’s responsibility.
Digital life will continue to be what people make of it. For a better future, humans must make responsible decisions about their partnership with technology
Theme 2: Public policy and regulation.
The age of a mostly unregulated internet will come to an end. Elected officials and technology leaders will move ahead with regulatory frameworks aimed at protecting the public good. The lawless alternative has caused dangerous disruptions across society.
Theme 3: Internet of everything.
In 50 years, internet use will be nearly as pervasive and necessary as oxygen. Seamless connectivity will be the norm, and it may be impossible to unplug.
Theme 4: Visions of the future.
From amazing advancements to dystopian developments, experts imagine a wide array of possible scenarios for the world 50 years in the future.
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Hopeful visions of 2069
Theme 1: Living longer and feeling better.
Internet-enabled technology will help people live longer and healthier lives. Scientific advances will continue to blur the line between human and machine.
Theme 2: Less work, more leisure.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools will take over repetitive, unsafe and physically taxing labor, leaving humans with more time for leisure.
Theme 3: Individualized experiences.
Digital life will be tailored to users
Theme 4: Collaboration and community.
A fully networked world will enhance opportunities for global collaboration, cooperation and community development, unhindered by distance, language or time.
Theme 5: Power by the people.
Expanded internet access could lead to further disruption of existing social and political power structures, potentially reducing inequality and empowering individuals.
Worrisome visions of 2069
Theme 1: Widening divides.
The divide between haves and have-nots will grow as a privileged few hoard the economic, health and educational benefits of digital expansion.
Theme 2: Internet-enabled oppression.
A powerful elite will control the internet and use it to monitor and manipulate, while providing entertainment that keeps the masses distracted and complacent.
Theme 3: Connected and alone.
The hyper-connected future will be populated by isolated users unable to form and maintain unmediated human relationships.
Theme 4: The end of privacy.
Personal privacy will be an archaic, outdated concept as humans willingly trade discretion for improved health care, entertainment opportunities and promises of security.
Theme 5: Misallocated trust.
Digital life lays you bare. It can inspire a loss of trust, often earns too much trust and regularly requires that you take the plunge even though you have absolutely no trust.
Theme 6: There is no planet B.
The future of humanity is inextricably connected to the future of the natural world.
Without drastic measures to reduce environmental degradation, the very existence of human life in 50 years could be in question.
Without drastic measures to reduce environmental degradation, the very existence of human life in 50 years could be in question.
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Experts Optimistic About the Next 50 Years of Digital Life
Fifty years after the first computer network was connected, most experts say digital life will mostly change humans’ existence for the better over the next 50 years.
However, they warn this will happen only if people embrace reforms allowing better cooperation, security, basic rights and economic fairness
However, they warn this will happen only if people embrace reforms allowing better cooperation, security, basic rights and economic fairness
"The year 1969 was a pivot point in culture, science and technology. >On Jan. 30, the Beatles played their last show.
> On July 20, the world watched in awe as Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the moon.
> Less than a month later, nearly half a million music fans overran a muddy field near Woodstock, New York, for what Rolling Stone calls the “greatest rock festival ever.”
But the 1969 event that had the greatest global impact on future generations occurred with little fanfare on Oct. 29, when a team of UCLA graduate students led by professor Leonard Kleinrock connected computer-to-computer with a team at the Stanford Research Institute. It was the first host-to-host communication of ARPANET, the early packet-switching network that was the precursor to today’s multibillion-host internet . . .
